USS Fitzgerald crash: US and Japan to find seven missing navy crew

The damage of the right side of the USS Fitzgerald is seen off Shimoda, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, after the Navy destroyer collided with a merchant ship, Saturday, June 17, 2017. Seven Navy sailors are missing and one was injured after a U.S. destroyer collided early Saturday morning with the Philippine-registered container ship off the coast of Japan, the country's coast guard reported. (Iori Sagisawa/Kyodo News via AP)

“Japanese and American planes, boats and helicopters have been deployed but have so far failed to find the missing crew.

A Philippine-registered container ship struck the USS Fitzgerald destroyer in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Three people aboard were medically evacuated by air, including the USS Fitzgerald’s commanding officer.

The incident took place some 56 nautical miles (104km) south-west of the Japanese port city of Yokosuka, at about 02:30 local time on Saturday (17:30 GMT Friday).

The Navy ship’s starboard side was heavily damaged in the collision, but the vessel later managed to slowly return to its base in Yokosuka, with the assistance of US navy tug boats.” Read more here…